UNION leaders say they have no other choice but to ballot their members on industrial action as they claim negotiations with management have hit a 'brick wall'.

RAILWAY
signal workers in Scotland are
to be balloted for strikes in an escalation of a dispute over
rosters.

The
Rail Maritime and Transport union said hundreds of its members will
vote on whether to launch a campaign of industrial action.

The
move follows a row with Network Rail involving signallers in the
Stirling area.

RMT
general secretary Bob Crow said: "Despite RMT making every
possible effort to resolve this dispute through negotiation, we have
met with nothing but a brick wall and broken promises from management
and as a result we now have no option but to move to a strike ballot
across Scotland.

"The
ballot is currently being prepared and RMT will advise on the
timetable in due course."

The
union also announced that its signalling members in Stirling will
launch another 24-hour strike on Saturday.